A young mother and her boyfriend are being held in a Florida jail after the woman’s 3-year-old daughter was found dead in a wooded area Friday afternoon, Fox News reported.

Police said Destinee J. Merrell, 23, told them that her boyfriend, Cory M. Hagwell, 29, had kicked the girl in the head because she had climbed out of her car seat, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported.

The child, identified as Cory M. Hagwel, was then locked in a closet, where she died, police told the newspaper, adding that the body was found later in the woods.

Authorities said the girl had suffered head trauma, but the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said an autopsy would determine the exact cause of death.

The couple initially reported the child missing, but police said the mother later told them what happened, the newspaper reported.

Adelynn Merrell, just 3 years old, was killed while being punished by the boyfriend, according to an admission from the mother given to Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office investigators.

Meanwhile, a 5-year-old boy in the woman’s care was found to be suffering from malnutrition, with “bones in all regions of his body exposed,” the newspaper reported.

Merrell faces three counts of child neglect and one count of aggravated child battery. Hagwell faces one count of aggravated child abuse.

More charges were expected, the sheriff’s office told the newspaper.

NOTE
It’s been announced that a candlelight ceremony for Adelynn Merrell, the 3-year-old girl tragically killed, will be held at 5:15 p.m. today at the corner of Palmetto Avenue and Bobolink Way.